Looks at
A company's vision
Its focus
Improvement of processes
Creating a conducive environment

Globalisation means looking outwards, but looking outwards often starts with looking within and so it is with the planning and execution of successful international joint ventures and alliances. A process of self-examination and introspection is really our starting point.

What is our Company's Vision / Mission Statement ?

The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. (Father Theodore Hesburgh, former president, Notre Dame University Time, May 1987.)

The vision of a company refers to what its founder or Chief Executive Officer wants to achieve in the long term. From the vision, a more focused and realistic statement can be drawn, which is called the mission statement. This statement can then be translated into objectives and targets.

VISION / MISSION

  • Taco Bell claims, We want to be number one in share of stomach. Clearly this vision seeks greater opportunities than just selling Mexican fast food.
  • Capital Holding Corporation's Direct Response Group's mission statement reads, Each of us is devoted to satisfying the financial concerns of every member of our customer family by:
    • deeply caring about and understanding each member's unique financial concerns
    • providing value through products and services that meet each member's financial concerns
    • responding with clear information, personal attention and respect to which each member is entitled
    • nurturing an enduring relationship that earns each member's loyalty and recommendation.

What is its Specific Focus?

  • Market leadership
  • Quality
  • Customer orientation
  • Entrepreneurial management
  • Global leadership

For example, the vision definition could evolve from the following key elements:

  • Market leadership: To become the national market leader in the soft drinks market by 1995.
  • Globalisation: To develop a Southeast Asian presence by 2006.
  • Quality: To achieve the status of a World Class company by 2010.

Which will ensure:

  • Customer satisfaction and preference
  • Profitable growth
  • Stakeholder satisfaction
  • Empowerment of employees.

Through continuous improvement of processes focused on:

  • Total quality
  • Productivity
  • Cost Effectiveness

And by creating an environment where:

  • Each individual enjoys his/her work and has an urge to excel
  • Each individual gives his/her best to achieve the shared vision
  • Each individual's contribution is recognized and valued.
The Nummi Venture: Empowering Employees

When General Motors and Toyota partners in the NUMMI venture, they jointly developed a guiding philosophy which was aimed at achieving success in the long term. Some of its main elements were:

  • The quest for perfection (Kaizen)
  • The development of full human potential
  • The pursuit of superior quality (Jidoka)
  • The building of mutual trust
  • The boosting of team performance
  • The implementation of a policy of every employee as manager.

Texas Instruments: Improving Management Processes

Texas Instruments traditionally held quarterly financial review meetings with their first-line executives. In tine with a more general focus on quality management, the quarterly meetings are now dedicated to quality and productivity.

Yanmar Steel : Cost Effectiveness via System Reengineering

During the 1973 economic recession in Japan, Yanmar Diesel was making heavy losses. Faced with an uncertain future, Yanmar, which supplied to Toyota, decided to install the Toyota flexible manufacturing system in its factories. In less than five years, manufacturing costs declined 40% to 60% factory break-even points dropped 80% to 50%, and total manufacturing labour productivity improved by more than 100%.

Chaparral Steel : Employee Involvement

Chaparral Steel achieved amazing results by improving employee involvement. Empowerment permeated right down to the level of security guards, who from merely watching the gates moved to entering quality results into the computer each night. The job was upgraded and even perceptibly, the company decided, it should involve more than merely gate watching. Soon the guards were running the ambulance, filling up the fire extinguishers and checking on the plant. The company even began considering some accounting functions for them.

As part of the scheme, the supervisors at the plant were permitted to do their own hiring. They were also responsible for training their people and for their safety, which meant that they had room to grow. As a result, the foremen and their crew were motivated to find new and better ways to operate upgraded equipment.

We have now defined our vision and mission. Through the examples of various firms which focused on quality, on empowerment of people and on the customer, we have seen how they have developed and implemented their vision and mission statements.

We have now defined our vision and mission. Through the examples of various firms which focused on quality, on empowerment of people and on the customer. We have seen how they have developed and implemented their vision and mission statements.